Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the decision to make single farm payments based on historical levels of subsidy can be reviewed and modified if necessary.

Ross Finnie: Any change to the payment regime under the Single Farm Payment would require agreement by the EU Council of Ministers. The system will be revised at EU level, at the latest, by 2009.

Antisocial Behaviour

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been served in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on numbers of ASBOs granted in each local authority area in the period 1 December 1999 to 31 March 2004 is provided in the following table:

  

Local Authority
01-12-99
to
30-11-2000
01-12-2000
to
30-11-01
01-12-01
to
30-11-02
01-12-02
to
31-03-031
01-04-03
to
31-03-042


Aberdeen City
9
9
6
3
12


Aberdeenshire
0
1
1
0
0


Angus
0
0
0
0
1


Argyll and Bute
0
0
0
0
0


City of Edinburgh
11
9
1
0
7


Clackmannanshire
0
0
0
0
0


Eilean Siar
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
1
0
14


Dundee City
7
8
3
3
20


East Ayrshire
0
0
0
2
4


East Dunbartonshire
0
0
0
0
0


East Lothian
0
0
0
0
2


East Renfrewshire
0
0
0
0
1


Falkirk
0
0
0
0
2


Fife
7
14
20
2
14


Glasgow
3
5
3
0
2


Highland
1
0
4
0
3


Inverclyde
0
0
0
0
0


Midlothian
0
0
1
0
3


Moray 
1
2
2
1
3


North Ayrshire
0
0
0
0
1


North Lanarkshire
1
5
15
12
31


Orkney Islands
0
0
1
0
1


Perth and Kinross
3
1
0
0
0


Renfrewshire
0
2
2
0
4


Scottish Borders 
2
3
4
1
9


Shetland Islands 
0
0
0
0
1


South Ayrshire
0
0
0
0
0


South Lanarkshire
3
2
5
0
7


Stirling 
0
0
1
1
6


West Dunbartonshire
4
5
2
2
3


West Lothian
1
0
0
0
0


Total
53
66
72
27
151



  Source: Data up to March 2003: Chartered Institute of Housing Survey

  Data from April 2004: DTZ Pieda Survey.

  Notes:

  1. Note this is not a full year. The reporting period has been changed to 1 April to 31 March. The figures in this column cover the transitional period while this change was being made.

  2. This is the number of full ASBOs in each local authority area, including applications by registered social landlords (RSL). Interim ASBOs and the power for RSLs to apply for orders came into effect on 27 June 2003.

Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for implementing the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.

Cathy Jamieson: The new provisions on antisocial behaviour strategies, antisocial behaviour orders, dispersal of groups, closure of premises and new environmental powers come into force today. The other measures will commence over the coming months. The timetable for this is set out in a Guide to the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 , which has been published today. Copies of the guide and statutory guidance on the measures coming into force this autumn are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 34110 to 34118).

Canals

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is promoting the tourism potential of the Union Canal.

Nicol Stephen: Promotion of the Union Canal is primarily an operational matter for British Waterways Scotland whose activities are largely funded by the Scottish Executive.

  VisitScotland, however, are also involved in a number of initiatives aimed at raising awareness of all Scotland’s canals as tourist destinations. These include the production of promotional material and the creation of SeaScotland 2005 to celebrate our maritime heritage including our canal network. In addition, the Union Canal is featured in the Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board leaflet Discover West Lothian. SailScotland also provides information on our canals in association with VisitScotland.

  The promotion of the canal will also benefit from the establishment in the coming months of the Lowlands Canals Steering Group which will determine future priorities for development.

Child Protection

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to local authorities to provide temporary accommodation for under-12s.

Euan Robson: No specific support is provided.

Children and Young People

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 12 are in young persons’ units.

Euan Robson: As at 31 March 2004 there were 186 children aged under 12 in residential accommodation of which one was in secure accommodation, 87 were in residential schools and 98 were in residential units.

Civil Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding the dispersal of UK civil service posts.

Tavish Scott: The Executive has been working closely, and will continue to work closely, with other Government departments on the dispersal of UK civil service posts. Scottish Development International maintains constant contact with UK departments in order to focus on opportunities resulting from the Lyons Review.

Coast Protection

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reduce coastal pollution from mineral oil products.

Lewis Macdonald: We work with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in support of the National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations, for which they are responsible.

  Discharges from onshore installations are the responsibility of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and there have been significant improvements in this area in recent years.

Community Wardens

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will measure the effectiveness of community wardens as referred to in Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 .

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is funding a national evaluation of the community warden schemes supported through our antisocial behaviour funding during 2004-06. The findings of the evaluation will assist in developing standards for existing and future warden schemes.

Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when guidance on the biodiversity provisions of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 will be issued.

Lewis Macdonald: The biodiversity provisions of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 place a new duty on all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity. Section 54 of the act which allows for the issuing of guidance, came into force on 1 October. Step-by-step guidance on how organisations can deliver their biodiversity duty will be published in draft, to coincide with the commencement of part 1 of the act, later this year.

Conservation of Seals Act 1970

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many seals were killed in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of seals killed under licence are as follows:

  2001 - 65

  2002 - 130

  2003 - 59.

Conservation of Seals Act 1970

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licences were granted under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003 allowing persons to kill seals (i) to prevent damage to fish farms and (ii) for other purposes.

Lewis Macdonald: Licences are not granted to shoot seals in order to prevent damage to fish farms.

  The following numbers of licences were granted in order to prevent damage to fisheries:

  2001 - 13

  2002 - 15

  2003 – 13.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists will be involved in the provision of NHS services in the financial year 2015-16.

Rhona Brankin: NHS Education Scotland (NES) have undertaken modelling work to consider the size of the future dentist workforce within the General Dental Service, which accounts for the majority of NHS dental services in Scotland. The report, Workforce Planning for Dentistry in Scotland was published in June 2004 and is available on the NES website.

  The majority of dentists in Scotland are independent contractors and as such can choose whether or not they will offer NHS services and the extent and range of that service.

Education

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to revise the eligibility criteria for the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

Allan Wilson: We have received a number of representations on this issue and have carefully considered the arguments for and against extending eligibility.

  The purpose of the EMA programme is to provide an incentive to young people when they reach their official school leaving date and have to make the decision whether or not to stay on at school. The current eligibility criteria support that policy intention and funding is being provided on that basis.

  Although extending eligibility would benefit a small group of students this year, it would immediately create further costs and anomalies in the staged rollout which would be difficult to justify.

  It is inevitable when any new scheme is rolled out, that some will fall on the wrong side of the qualifying date. While I recognise their disappointment, we considered it fairer to adhere to eligibility criteria for which there is a rational basis in terms of the policy objective of this scheme.

  I have to conclude, therefore, that there is insufficient reason to change the eligibility criteria.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the school developments in target 6 of the Education and Young People section of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 will be (a) PPP and (b) public sector-led.

Peter Peacock: Since the contents of many of the 29 school PPP projects are still to be finalised by education authorities, it is not possible to predict how many of the 300 new or substantially refurbished schools referred to in target 6 will be funded through PPP projects or otherwise.

Education

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with East Lothian Council’s arrangements for the provision of secondary education at the Blindwells New Settlement site in East Lothian.

Peter Peacock: Decisions on school provision to meet new demand are for education authorities rather than the Scottish Executive. Accordingly, the Executive will have no involvement in arrangements which East Lothian Council may be considering for school provision at Blindwells.

Education

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered (a) history and (b) modern studies teachers there were in secondary schools in each of the last 10 years and what percentage of the total number of posts in each of these subjects in each year was (i) filled and (ii) vacant.

Peter Peacock: The available information on how many registered (a) history and (b) modern studies teachers there were in secondary schools on specific years can be obtained from the Teacher Census Results 2003 and can be accessed using the following hyperlink:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00352-00.asp.

  The available information on what percentage of the total number of posts in each of these subjects was (i) filled and (ii) vacant is set out in the following table:

  

1.
September 20012
February 20023
September 20023
February 20033
September 20034
February 2004


%
Filled
Vacant
Filled
Vacant
Filled
Vacant
Filled
Vacant
Filled
Vacant
Filled
Vacant


History
99.3
0.7
99.1
0.9
98.7
1.3
99.3
0.7
97.9
2.1
98.9
1.1


Modern Studies
97.8
2.2
99.0
1.0
99.6
0.4
99.2
0.8
98.1
1.9
96.7
3.3



  Notes:

  1. Information is not available for earlier years.

  2. Data received from East Renfrewshire Council related to September 2000.

  3. No data received from Aberdeenshire Council.

  4. No data received from Aberdeenshire. Partial data received from Shetland, but excluded from this table.

Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that universities train more history teachers from 2005-06 onwards to meet the requirements of schools.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive carries out an annual teacher workforce planning exercise to ensure at a national level adequate numbers of newly qualified teachers are trained for when they are required in publicly funded schools. This takes into account factors such as the age profile of the profession; changing pupil numbers; numbers of new entrants to the profession and those leaving due to resignation, retirement etc.

  As part of the exercise subject specialisms are prioritised, with universities having flexibility to adjust recruitment levels to subjects in order to accommodate localised demand. Factors which are considered in the prioritisation exercise include vacancy levels reported by local authorities (LAs) and the demand from LAs for probationer teachers in each sector/subject.

  In recent years vacancy levels in history have been low, at between 1 and 2%. This suggests low turnover of staff and/or reasonable availability of replacement teachers. That judgement has tended to be confirmed by the position in the probationer scheme, where the supply of teacher graduates has greatly exceeded the demand from local authorities for probationer teachers (although it is not a direct relationship between vacancy levels and places offered under the Induction scheme, in general there are similar subject patterns). These factors resulted in a low prioritisation for history places in last year’s guidance to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) in setting intakes to initial teacher education (ITE) courses. Latest information suggests continuing low vacancy rates, but a better balance between demand and supply of probationer teachers.

  The 2004 workforce planning exercise will be examining updated information so that up to date advice can be offered to SHEFC at the turn of the year, in time for recruitment to ITE courses in August 2005.

Education

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern languages teachers there have been in secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by subject.

Peter Peacock: The available information on how many modern languages teachers there have been in secondary schools on specific years, broken down by subject, can be obtained from the Teacher Census Results 2003 and can be accessed using the following hyperlink:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00352-00.asp.

Environment

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what implications for Scotland arise from the ruling of the European Court on 7 September 2004 in respect of Case No. C-1/03 on contaminated land, Van De Walle & Ors v Texaco Belgium SA .

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is considering the legal implications of the judgment in the Van de Walle  case.

Environment

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to consult stakeholders in relation to its commitment within the Partnership Agreement regarding its "consideration of the establishment of environmental courts and other options for improving prosecution and dispute resolution" and how this consultation will be carried out.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is currently considering the potential roles that environmental courts and other methods of dispute resolution might play in Scotland. Decisions on the timing and nature of any consultation will be taken in due course.

Environment

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the potential for radon to be present in any given area, similar to that available for England and Wales on pages 62 and 63 of the British Geological Survey’s publication, Britain Beneath Our Feet .

Ross Finnie: The Executive has commissioned the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) to give advice on the radiological significance of levels of radon in Scotland. To do that the NRPB is completing its mapping of the levels of the naturally occurring radioactive gas, radon, in housing across Scotland. The survey aims to bring the extent of radon mapping in Scotland into line with that for the rest of the UK, with radon maps similar to those published for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Executive Targets

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the targets set by the Partnership Agreement have been achieved and in what respect the targets set by the programme for government in 1999 and 2000 are relevant to current circumstances.

Mr Tom McCabe: We have made good progress in implementing A Partnership for a Better Scotland . 25 of the commitments have now been achieved, and major progress made on many others. As the Record of Achievement document published in December 2002 indicated, 97% of the commitments in Programme for Government 1 and 2 had been achieved or were on track to be achieved. Those still relevant have been incorporated into A Partnership for a Better Scotland  and into the targets recently published as part of the latest Scottish Budget.

Fisheries

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities will be provided with funding to allow them to assume planning control for marine fish farms.

Malcolm Chisholm: We propose that when planning controls for marine fish farms are introduced, local authorities will be able to charge a planning application fee. Our consultation paper on the introduction of planning controls includes consideration of appropriate fee levels.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea that the cod fishery should be closed.

Ross Finnie: Despite some signs of potential improvement, cod remains well outside safe biological limits and continues to require careful stewardship. The Scottish Executive is committed to the effective implementation of the EU’s Cod Recovery Plan as a means of promoting the long-term sustainability of the stock while enabling the Scottish fleet to continue to pursue carefully managed fishing opportunities in the North Sea. The Executive considers that a complete closure of the fishery would be disproportionate.

Forestry Commission

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of land managed by Forestry Commission Scotland has been completed and, if so, whether the Executive has considered the report of the review.

Lewis Macdonald: In August 2003, we announced a review of the long-term role of Scotland’s national forest estate. This land, owned by Scottish ministers and managed by Forestry Commission Scotland, represents 8.5% of Scotland’s land area. Staff from the Forestry Commission, Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Scottish Natural Heritage and an external assessor from the forest industry carried out the review, under the guidance of the Forestry Commission’s National Committee for Scotland. We asked for recommendations about changes that would improve the ability of the estate to deliver the priorities set out in the Scottish Forestry Strategy, together with other Executive policies.

  The review group reported to ministers in May 2004. They based their report on an extensive consultation exercise, as well as an economic analysis of the estate, carried out by independent consultants. In addition to receiving over 400 written responses to the consultation paper, the review group organised seven consultation meetings across Scotland. We are most grateful to everyone who participated in this consultation exercise.

  We have now concluded our deliberations on the report and have accepted all 30 of its recommendations; endorsing the vision that "Scotland's national forests will benefit everyone in Scotland, promoting vibrant and healthy communities; enriching natural environments and our cultural heritage, and creating wide-ranging opportunities for economic development".

  Copies of the report are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34224) and on the Forestry Commission’s website www.forestry.gov.uk/scotland.

Foster Care

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging more people to be involved in fostering.

Euan Robson: For 2004-05 grant aided expenditure (GAE) of approximately £1.8 billion has been allocated to local authorities to carry out their social work functions; these include the provision of foster care. The Executive also provides funding to The Fostering Network and the British Association for Adoption and Fostering to support and promote foster care in Scotland. Further funding for foster care was allocated in the Spending Review and I look forward to making an announcement shortly about how this money will encourage more people to be involved in fostering.

Health

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in ending a "two-tier workforce" in the health service.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Public Private Partnership in Scotland – Protocol and Guidance , which issued in November 2002, advised that in the future there should be no two-tier workforce in PPPs. The guidance applies to NHSScotland employers and, therefore, no new PPP schemes should have a two-tier workforce.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, court bail decisions are communicated within 24 hours to victims in cases in which the accused has appeared from custody.

Colin Boyd QC: During 2003-04, of those cases where victims, witnesses and/or bereaved next of kin were referred to Victim Information and Advice (VIA), 4,453 (approximately 99%) of the 4,504 court bail decisions recorded where the accused had appeared from custody were communicated within 24 hours.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been invested in forensic pathology in each year since 1999.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) purchases forensic pathology services in connection with its core function to investigate sudden, suspicious, unexpected and unexplained deaths. The annual spend on forensic pathology services since 2000-2001 (the first year of the current contractual arrangements) is as shown in the following table. The figures include the cost of additional analyses undertaken (such as toxicology) to assist in establishing cause of death.

  

Year
Annual Spend


2000-01
£2,516,334


2001-02
£3,470,225


2002-03
£4,159,648


2003-04
£5,154,290



  Additionally, COPFS contributes to the cost of public mortuary provision in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.

Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support community-led projects under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 in rural areas.

Lewis Macdonald: New rights to buy for communities under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force on 14 June 2004. Since then we have published detailed guidance on the right to buy process, considered applications received and provided advice on individual cases.

National Health Service

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-9394 and S2W-10611 by Tavish Scott on 9 and 28 September 2004 respectively, how the estimated cost of altering the NHS superannuation scheme in respect of widowers’ pensions to include pensionable service prior to 6 April 1988 and after March 1972 was calculated, given that the number of widowers eligible for payments under the scheme if it were so altered is unknown.

Tavish Scott: As the most recent valuation of the NHS Scheme in Scotland is still to be completed, the cost was based on the 1999 valuation of the NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales.

Nutrition

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to support the initiative to reduce salt intake.

Mr Andy Kerr: We are actively working in partnership with the Food Standards Agency to reduce salt intake. Scotland has a dietary target for salt that aims to reduce salt intake by more than a third by 2005.

  Nutritional standards for school meals set salt levels in line with advice from the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Guidelines have been produced for the improvement of nutritional standards in schools, hospitals and catering establishments which encourage the adoption of healthier practices into all aspects of catering, including reductions in salt.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police officers in each police force is (a) female and (b) from an ethnic minority, broken down by rank.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is as follows:

  Percentage of Female Officers within Each Police Force by Rank as at 31 March 2004

  

 
Assistant, Deputy and Chief Constable
Chief Superintendent and Superintendent
Chief
Inspector and Inspector
Sergeant
Constable


Central
33
0
10
7
22


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
6
8
26


Fife
0
0
8
7
24


Grampian
0
5
7
15
25


Lothian and Borders
0
5
8
11
21


Northern
0
0
4
8
24


Strathclyde
14
8
7
11
23


Tayside
0
14
8
9
24



  Percentage of Ethnic Minority Officers within each Police Force by Rank as at 31 March 2004

  

 
Chief
Inspector and Inspector

Sergeant

Constable


Central
0.0
0.9
0.4


Dumfries and Galloway
0.0
0.0
0.3


Fife
0.0
0.0
0.5


Grampian
0.0
00
0.3


Lothian and Borders
1.0
1.0
1.1


Northern
0.0
0.0
0.4


Strathclyde
1.0
1.0
2.0


Tayside
0.0
0.0
0.7



  Notes:

  Source for both tables: Annual Statistical Returns from forces to Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary.

  There were no ethnic minority officers above the rank of Chief Inspector.

Population

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what policy measures it has implemented to prevent young people and families from migrating from Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: Through the Partnership Agreement the Scottish Executive is delivering a Scotland where people and families will want to stay – an open, welcoming and inclusive Scotland where opportunity exists for all; a Scotland where last month’s spending review provided record investment in health, education and child care, and a Scotland with a strong economy supporting businesses, jobs and our public services.

Pre-School Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in seeking to maintain part-time nursery provision as referred to in the Education and Young People section of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 , it will investigate the possibility of providing full-time early years education for every three and four-year-old.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive keeps its policy on further developing pre-school provision under constant review. However, at this time, there are no plans to provide full-time early years education for every three and four-year-old.

Prison Service

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the two new prisons proposed in Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 will be constructed using PPP or built within the public sector.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The first new prison is currently being procured using PPP.

  Management and unions within the SPS, working in partnership, have been given the opportunity to compete with the private sector for the second new prison.

Prisoner Escorts

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10924 by Cathy Jamieson on 5 October 2004, whether the contract for prisoner escort and court custody services is cheaper than the previous system of escort and court custody provided by the Scottish Prison Service and the police.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the question S2W-11075 answered on 19 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Rural Development

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what rural development policies it has implemented in the last year to encourage young people and families to live in the Scottish Borders.

Ross Finnie: We are committed to maintaining strong, prosperous and growing communities in the Scottish Borders. We have implemented a wide range of policies over the past year to support rural economic development, improve access to services and work to ensure that the same opportunities are available to all.

  Some examples of what we have been doing in the Borders include:

  A £50 million Public Private Partnership project to build three new secondary schools. £262,000 (in 2004-05) from the Rural Transport Fund to tackle transport problems. Support for the Waverley Railway Partnership’s plans for re-opening the Borders Rail link. And broadband to households and businesses through the Scottish Borders Rural Broadband service.

Schools

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Fife Council to discuss the modernisation of schools.

Peter Peacock: There are meetings at official level, as appropriate, to discuss the council’s schools PPP project and its School Estate Management Plan.

Schools

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Fife Council to discuss its school capital buildings project.

Peter Peacock: There are meetings at official level, as appropriate, to discuss the council’s schools PPP project and its School Estate Management Plan.

Schools

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will change the rules pertaining to the Schools Fund to allow the fund to be used to support prudential borrowing where that borrowing relates to the school estate.

Peter Peacock: It is not open to local authorities to use the schools fund to support the cost of direct council borrowing for capital investment, and there are no plans to alter that.

Schools

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give the breakdown between support for the Schools Fund and support for PPP in the spending plans in the Education and Young People section of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 .

Peter Peacock: I expect to make an announcement about the Schools Fund later in November. Table 3.05 of The Scottish Executive: Draft Budget 2005-06 sets out the spending plans in support of PPP.

Schools

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish Borders Council regarding proposed closure of Hutton Primary School.

Peter Peacock: None. Our understanding is that the council has yet to take a decision on the matter, following the consultation process.

Schools

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school swimming pools are fitted with equipment and facilities to facilitate access by disabled children and young people.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

Schools

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7277 by Peter Peacock on 5 May 2004, when the new guidance regarding school closures will be published.

Peter Peacock: The new guidance was published on 30 September 2004, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34126). Electronic copies are available on the Scottish Executive’s School Estate and Parentzone websites at www.scotland.gov.uk/schoolestate and:

  www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk respectively.

Scottish Rural Partnership Fund

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how any unspent funding from the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund in 2003-04 was reallocated.

Lewis Macdonald: A total of £3.123 million was made available to fund the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund during the 2003-04 financial year. Some £2.186 million was spent in response to claims from successful grant applicants. The balance of funds at the end of the 2003-04 financial year, £937,000, was reallocated to Scottish Executive Departments in accordance with rules on end-year flexibility.

Social Welfare

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in closing the opportunity gap.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have been making good progress in closing the opportunity gap. Absolute poverty has been reduced by 42% since 1997 and the number of children living in relative poverty has been reduced by 100,000 since 1997.

  We announced our high level Closing the Opportunity Gap Objectives on 12 July and will shortly announce our more detailed Closing the Opportunity Gap targets.

Social Work

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8893 by Peter Peacock on 30 June 2004, what progress has been made by the group undertaking the review of social work.

Peter Peacock: The review group is now in place, under the chairmanship of William Roe. It has met three times. The group’s initial discussions have included the values of social work, the current social work task, social work developments in the context of wider policy changes and visioning of the future environment.

  The review group is setting up sub-groups to take forward its work. Sandy Cameron, Director of Social Work at South Lanarkshire and Bernadette Docherty, Director of Social Work Services at North Ayrshire have agreed to chair groups on performance improvement and the role of the social worker respectively. These will be the first priority work areas for the group. The other sub groups to be set up are users and carer panel, stakeholders, communications and management and leadership.

  The review group will be very outward focused and will be consulting very widely, particularly with frontline staff and service users. It has invited Lisa Curtice, Director, Scottish Consortium for People with Learning Disabilities to set up a user and carer panel which will adopt a citizens’ jury approach, inviting evidence from users and carers on specific issues of interest to the review group. Arrangements are in hand to consult with front-line staff over the course of the next three months.

  Individual members of the review group are taking an early opportunity to visit local authority and voluntary sector service provision. All members of the review group will take part in in-depth visits to local authority and voluntary sector providers of social care services.

Sport

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new indoor local authority sports facilities have opened since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new local authority outdoor sports facilities have opened since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliament Building

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when the out-turn annual maintenance cost of Holyrood will be published each year and whether the figures for the current year are likely to be broadly similar to the estimated figures.

John Scott (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The outturn maintenance costs for 2004-05 incurred by the SPCB will be available in June 2005 and will include eight months expenditure in respect of Holyrood. We expect outturn maintenance costs arising from the upkeep of existing fabric and building services to be broadly similar to the estimated figures.